Economic evaluation reveals shale oil extraction reduces overall wealth for long-term residents, indicating that energy booms generate substantial social and economic costs for local communities.
This study applies the comprehensive wealth framework (CWF) to assess the impacts of the Bakken shale oil boom on the wellbeing of people in North Dakota. In particular, we consider how investment in shale oil and gas production has affected financial and natural capital and how in-migrants and commuters have affected the region’s social, built, and human capital. We conclude that much of the economic benefits have accrued to new residents and nonresidents and that temporary employment in the gas and oil sector has coincided with increased housing cost, violent crime, decreased volunteerism, and declining regional social capital, potentially reducing the comprehensive wealth of long-time residents.
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Kim et al. (2020) studied this question.
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